MidwiferyVolume 25, Issue 2, April 2009, Pages 155-162
Fears associated with childbirth among nulliparous women in
Turkey
(Article)
Serçekuş, P.Email Author,
Okumuş, H.Email Author
View Correspondence (jump link)
Dokuz Eylül University School of Nursing, Mithatpaba Street, Ynciraltý, ÝZMÝR, 35340, Turkey
Abstract View references (37)
Objective: to describe fears associated with childbirth and reasons for the fears. Design: a qualitative study. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed using content-analysis method. Setting: outpatient maternity clinic of a university hospital in Turkey. Participants: 19 nulliparous pregnant women who stated that they had fear related to childbirth. Findings: women's fears were related to labour pain, birth-related problems and procedures, attitudes of health-care personnel and sexuality. The reasons for their fears included type and quality of childbirth
information, personal characteristics and experiences, maternity ward environment and lack of confidence in health-care personnel. Seven of the women were
considering an elective caesarean section. The role of husbands in the childbirth experience was not mentioned by any participants. Key conclusions and implications for practise: women experience considerable fear related to impending childbirth. Considering the potential for negative findings caused by fear, and the likelihood of requesting a caesarean section, it is important for health professionals who provide antenatal care to explore fears related to childbirth. The development and evaluation of formal childbirth education is also recommended. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
SciVal Topic Prominence
Topic: Parturition | Women | Childbirth fear
Prominence percentile: 97.610
